


Just Rapunzel

by LokoteiBex



Series: Rapunzel Appreciation Week 2020 [5]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Rapunzel Appreciation Week 2020 (Disney)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:48:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25621639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LokoteiBex/pseuds/LokoteiBex
Summary: Eugene knocked on the door after opening it to get her attention, but give her space. “Hey, Sunshine. Is this a bad time?” he asked gently. He held the cupcake up so she could see it. It was almost like she was waking up from a dream when she looked at him and her expression morphed into a smile.“Eugene…” she said gently. The smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, but she was trying.He came fully into the room and shut the door gently behind him, then joined her at the window seat, handing her the pastry. She took it with a small hum of thanks, but just sat there, holding it. Very quickly, her gaze slid back to the window.Eyebrows knit gently, Eugene reached out and placed his hand over hers. This got her attention and she looked at him again. “Do you want to talk about it?” he wondered, his tone as gentle as is touch.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Series: Rapunzel Appreciation Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1850176
Comments: 3
Kudos: 38





	Just Rapunzel

**Author's Note:**

> Rapunzel Appreciation Week Day 5 - Life As a Princess

Things were complicated. Things had been complicated for, oh, nine months or so, but they’d gotten worse, recently. Ever since the storm that had tested Rapunzel’s ability to rule, she’d felt shaken down to her foundation. She wasn’t sure she wanted to rule. She wasn’t sure she was fit to rule.

Eugene was, of course, as supportive as could be. Sometimes Rapunzel felt like he was the only one who was. Cassandra tended to call her ‘princess’ more often these days, when she was coaxing her to continue taking her duties and lessons seriously. Her parents were encouraging, telling her what a good job she’d done and skiing her to continue taking audience with their subjects and solving their problems.

She was finding herself retreating more, spending more time in her room and less out in the town. The self-isolation was an emotional backslide, and Eugene noticed immediately.

One day, after she’d retreated to her room once again, he met her up there with a cupcake. She was right where he expected to find her: sitting in her window seat, looking forlorn past the glass. Her journal was open on her lap to a blank page, but she was making no effort to paint an entry. She didn’t even have a quill in hand to draw the lines.

Eugene knocked on the door after opening it to get her attention, but give her space. “Hey, Sunshine. Is this a bad time?” he asked gently. He held the cupcake up so she could see it. It was almost like she was waking up from a dream when she looked at him and her expression morphed into a smile.

“Eugene…” she said gently. The smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, but she was trying.

He came fully into the room and shut the door gently behind him, then joined her at the window seat, handing her the pastry. She took it with a small hum of thanks, but just sat there, holding it. Very quickly, her gaze slid back to the window.

Eyebrows knit gently, Eugene reached out and placed his hand over hers. This got her attention and she looked at him again. “Do you want to talk about it?” he wondered, his tone as gentle as is touch.

Rapunzel sighed, her shoulders slumping. “It’s just…”

She was quiet a few moments as she mulled the question over and tried to mentally compose her answer. “Things used to be easier,” she finally said, her voice so small and defeated that Eugene could tell that this had been eating at her for a long time, and that she felt guilty for feeling this way. “I don’t… wish I was back in the tower. I  _ never  _ wish that. But I could really...  _ handle  _ life back then, and I can’t anymore. I can’t handle the pressure and the duties and the expectations. I feel like Princess Rapunzel is swallowing me whole, and I don’t know what to do.”

Though her tone remained calm, Eugene watched her break, and his heart shattered for her. “Oh, oh, oh, Sunshine…” He took the cupcake from her and set it aside, then gathered her into his arms, holding her close and rocking her gently, resting his lips on her brow without really kissing her.

He listened to her sniffle for a while and let her just cry, never once telling her to stop or encourage her to be strong. She didn’t  _ have  _ to be strong. She’d been strong for so long, what was the point of trying to force it now?

“I know it’s not much, because it’s just li’l ol’ me,” he said, keeping his tone light and hoping that would help cheer her, “but I want you to know that most of the time when I look at you, I see just Rapunzel. I don’t mean that to belittle you, either. There was this girl in a tower, scared and unsure, but she had the courage to face the world and follow her dream. She was warm and compassionate, and she listened to me when I felt vulnerable without judgement or prejudice. And that’s the girl I fell in love with. I danced with her and watched her experience the world for the first time. It was eye-opening. I’d become so jaded and walled off. But that sweet girl just… opened me right up, made me love life again, helped me see the wonder I’d deliberately blinded myself to for so many years. And that’s who I still see when I look at you. Just Rapunzel.” He gave her a squeeze, pleased to hear that she’d calmed while she listened. “And I still feel that way every day. I’m still excited to see what new things life has to offer, and I can’t imagine doing any of it without you by my side.”

“Thanks, Eugene,” and she genuinely sounded better. Not perfect, but not like she was on the verge of collapse anymore. She wriggled and leaned and grabbed the little plate with the cupcake on it, nibbling into one size. A smear of pink frosting decorated her nose, and Eugene couldn’t help but smile.

“But, to be fair,” he clarified, “sometimes when I look at you, and you’re all in charge and taking command… I see Princess Rapunzel, and she’s really hot.” He winked at her, and she laughed in response.

“Well, I know for a fact that you,” she got a dollop of frosting on her finger, “are really  _ sweet _ .” And she wiped it off on his nose.

**Author's Note:**

> I've always felt like Eugene would be able to help Rapunzel and ground her to realize that she was just as much the girl he fell in love with.


End file.
